


A Place that Feels Like Home

by Lazchan



Series: Tiger's Friendship [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 22:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9093961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: Yuuri kept Yuri company while he practiced with Lilia, but once Lilia knew that Yuuri trained under Minako, she wanted to see what he could do as well.





	

"Stay here, katsudon," Yuri huffed at him, pointing to the benches outside of the studio. "I'll take you to the rink later, but I have to practice with Lilia first." He looked almost apologetic, but Yuuri just shrugged and pointed to his laptop.

 

"I have to go over the routine again anyway," he said lightly, already starting to put his headphones in. "Need to make sure the music works…" He was already tuning Yuri out and the younger rolled his eyes, but let it go. He hadn't realized incredibly…focused Yuuri really could be when it came to his routines. It wasn't like he had really hung out _around_ Yuuri except for that Onsen on Ice debacle, but this was something different.

 

"Fine, fine—I'll get you when it's time to go." He slammed back into the studio and endured Lilia's lectures for his lack of grace, but she let the lecture slide for the most part as she pointed to the barre. "Get to work," she ordered. "Stretch and let me see that you haven't let everything go to your head after winning gold."

 

"It won't," he muttered under his breath. If he let himself get lax, then Yuuri might actually beat him next time and Yuri still had to beat Yuuri's record from the last Grand Prix. He automatically went into the basic movements that he had been doing for years, his mind on autopilot and he was thrown off when she tapped his shoulder hard.

 

"Yuri, you are not listening to me," she scolded. He scowled up at her, but she didn't let him yell back at her. "I asked, where is that boy that came in with you? The one that Viktor has decided to keep around?" She tapped her foot. "I saw his routine—he has obviously had some training with ballet. What do you know of it, Yuri?"

 

He settled back on his feet and shrugged. "I think he said something like that;" he was almost ashamed to admit he didn’t actually know and he realized that his time spent in Yuuri's hometown could have gone a little better. At the very least, he could have learned more about Yuuri other than his favorite food and his town practically worshipping the oblivious idiot.

 

"Go and get him, then," she ordered. "He does not need to be wasting his time, listening to music if there is an opportunity for him to work."

 

He stared at her, amazed that she was even offering such a thing and then sighed and pushed his hair back. "You're not going to train him, are you?" he asked suspiciously. Yuuri didn't exactly _need_ that type of work; it was something he excelled in.

 

"Of course not, but I can assess him and see if he can prove himself to be something worthwhile to grace our city and our skaters with." Her smile was thin and amused and Yuri almost felt sorry for Yuuri at that moment. He really wasn't sure what Yuuri had gone through, but it couldn't have been as strenuous as Lilia's regime. No matter what she said, she had to have been even vaguely impressed for her to even consider letting Yuuri into the studio.

 

He went to go get Yuuri, who was staring intently at the screen, completely blocking out the world. Just tapping him on the shoulder wouldn't do it. Yuri went straight for the headphones, pulling one out gently and _then_ getting Yuuri's attention by speaking in his ear. "Oi, Katsudon. Get into the studio. Lilia wants to see if you're not a complete screwup."

 

Yuuri stared at him, eyes unfocused for a moment, as if he was having trouble seeing Yuri for the moment and then shook his head. "Um…" he blinked. "She's your choreographer, isn't she?" he asked uncertainly, but still folding up his laptop and getting to his feet.

 

"Yeah, but she wants to know if you did ballet and who trained you," Yuri said impatiently. "Not that she'd know some small town Japanese ballet teacher, but…" he pushed Yuuri ahead of him. Lilia could ask her questions, poke at Yuuri a bit and then they could get back to training.

 

Yuuri blinked and then begin to smile a little bit. "… she might be surprised," he said softly. "My teacher didn’t just stay home. She went all over the world—"

 

"Alright, just tell it to Lilia," he muttered. "Hopefully she won't find it interesting enough that she makes you stay and work." His grin was sharp-edged and amused. "She said that you shouldn’t sit around when you can actually work."

 

Yuuri made a face. "It's not that I mind, Yuri, but—" he looked uncomfortable, especially with Lilia scowling down at him. "I don't want to take away from your training, either and I have to make sure I get the music down in my head, too—"

 

"You—" Lilia pointed a finger at him. "Who was your teacher? You learned ballet, yes?" she asked and Yuri hastened to translate. He was certain Yuuri knew some Russian, a few words here and there and whatever Viktor had taught him, but Yuuri was also looking as if his brain had short circuited for a moment and he struggled for the words to make sense.

 

Lilia could have that effect on a person.

 

Yuuri cleared his throat and his voice was careful as he said the woman's name; Minako Okugawa. Yuri remembered seeing her at Yuuri's performances; he and his sister had flags for _every skater_ , including him, he belatedly realized. He expected Lilia to dismiss the name as being meaningless, but he was instead rewarded with her eyes widening.

 

"I know this name—" she poked at Yuri again, much to his annoyance. Her fingers were _bony_ and he was going to have bruises. "Ask the Japanese boy more about her. She was very talented; very—she was awarded the Benois de la Danse when she was younger…" her voice trailed off thoughtfully as she looked down at Yuuri, who only looked up when he heard the name of the award. "She trained him?"

 

Yuri scowled. "Yeah—she trained him. She was around and drinking with Celestino when we were in Barcelona. If I knew you were such a fan, I would have introduced you." He looked over at Yuuri, rubbing the bridge of his nose and trying not to bite out his annoyance.

 

"Lilia says your teacher was famous," he muttered. "Did you know that, katsudon?" He barely knew that Yuuri studied ballet, but it wasn't like it would have been a stretch of the imagination; it would have been more shocking if he _hadn't_ done ballet.

 

Yuuri looked confused and then nodded, already starting to edge away, the question apparently answered. "Minako-sensei traveled all over the world," he said slowly. "Your teacher's right- -she did get the Benois de la Danse. I saw it in her studio and the picture of her accepting the award." His smile turned wistful and proud. "I think she was disappointed a little that I didn't stay in ballet, even if she was the one that said I should skate."

 

"Huh." Lilia grabbed Yuuri's arm, freeing him in place. She obviously didn't understand the conversation, but she could make herself clear as she pointed at the practice floor. "Show me your talent," her voice was barely understood and Yuuri looked to Yuri for confirmation, who just sighed.

 

"Guess she really does want to see…" he smirked at him. "Don't disappoint me, katsudon. If you can bend and flip on ice, you can do it where the floor isn't going to knock you on your ass."

 

Yuuri sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking down at his clothes. At least he was in something comfortable. "I don't want to take away from your time, Yuri…" he said slowly. Lilia didn’t even hesitate, just pointed to the barre again.

 

"Fine, fine…" he moved into the set of steps that Minako had drilled into him long ago, when he was discovering that the pressure from so many strangers at home was hard to stand. When he felt a warmth in his chest from learning something that made him graceful and beautiful. It was warm-ups to start; because he wasn't just going to go blindly into whatever Lilia had envisioned for him.

 

He waited for her instructions; she obviously had something in mind with him and he flicked his gaze over to Yuri, who simply shrugged. "I can't guess what she wants," he muttered. "She's good, though," he admitted softly, his cheeks faintly red.

 

When Lilia gave the order for this movement or that,, he nodded and let each step flow into the next and it felt warm and comfortable and familiar, even so far from home. He could almost hear Minako's voice, encouraging him. She had been the first to see potential in him.

 

Yuri stood back and watched, his eyes widening. It was one thing to see Yuuri on the ice; he _knew_ he was talented (no matter what he self-deprecations he muttered about himself) but seeing him move with the same grace _off_ the ice was somehow more surprising.

 

When he finally came to a stop, Lilia was smiling brightly at him. "I would not expect anything less from Minako's student," she said to Yuri. "It is obvious he listened to her instructions. He moves his body like the instrument it is, to music only he hears."

 

Yuri's jaw almost dropped at the compliment and he was momentarily glad that Yuuri couldn't understand the words. He would translate, but he'd leave this and that out so that it didn't sound as if _he_ believed that Yuuri could be that graceful.

 

Instead, he was more interested in stepping up his own routine. _Katsudon won't beat me in this, either._ He thought to himself as he gave Yuuri a towel to wipe off the sweat with, thrusting a bottle of water at him at the same time. "She said she could see you listened to your teacher," he muttered, flicking his gaze away.

 

Yuuri just smiled at him and stretched out the last of the kinks in his muscles, cooling down so that he wouldn't stiffen up on the ice later. "It feels like home," was all he said, staring out the windows of the studio, into the misty sunlight.

 

Yuri blinked at that, surprised. It was the first time that Yuuri had said that Russia felt like home and he felt his cheeks warm at the comment. Even if it was because of ballet, of Lilia's demands and a workout that he hadn't even asked for…it was a small step.

 

 

 


End file.
